Bedside control systems are commonly used in the health care industry to make various control functions accessible to patients. Bedside controllers are typically used for bed adjustment, nurse calls, and for control of appliances such as radio, television, telephone and lights. Examples of such controllers are pendant speaker systems and side rail controls. One example of a side rail control is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,680,790 to Packard et al.
One inherent problem with current side rail controls or pendant speaker systems is that confused or challenged patients have a great deal of difficulty locating and manipulating the controls. For example, pendant speaker systems are not mounted in a fixed location and can be lost in the bed clothes. In the case of side rail controls, they are frequently mounted in locations which are not convenient or conducive to their use.
Another disadvantage of side-rail controls and pendant speaker systems is that they are generally accessible to the patient only when the patient is in the hospital bed. After surgery or other treatment, it is generally desirable to ambulate the patient as soon as is medically practicable. Studies show that ambulating patients as quickly as possible after surgical procedures decreases the patient's recovery time and also the overnight stays required. Patients are therefore encouraged to sit upright in a bedside chair in the patient's hospital room rather than remain confined in the hospital bed. Current pendant systems and side rail controllers are frequently inaccessible to the patient once the patient is out of the hospital bed.
Current side rail control systems are also inaccessible to the visiting family member who might be staying with the patient during recovery. The existing T.V. controls and other environmental controls are not accessible to the visitor when they are fixed to the bed side rail.